32 SeaCraft--what a piece of JUNK!

[Briguy]

While in Islamorada a few weeks ago I stopped in at the local SeaCraft boat dealer. They also carry Fountains, Mako's and Tritons. I also saw a Venture on the lot. They only had a 21 on site. Long story short, the dealer dropped SeaCraft. Said a factory rep hasn't visited in over a year. The salesman quoted several "issues" as their reson. Yesterday I was at the Travis Boating center here in Sarasota looking at the new 32' on the lot. All I can say is I am ashamed. First off, sticking my hand in the baitwell there was about a 1/2 inch gap between the top of the well and the inside top. I confirmed this by sticking my entire head inside the well. No fiberglass puddy or 5200 to seal the well from sloshing water over the lip and into the bilge. Talk about dangerous! Next I looked under the deck cap and noticed exposed screw heads about 2/3 of the way up to the bow. At that point, fiberglass tape covered the screw heads. Guess they forgot to finish that covering the rest of the screws with glass. There wasn't even any bedding compound. Next was the worst. Inside the anchor locker looked like a group of 1st graders on a sugar high did the fiberglass and finish work. Uneven fiberglass cuts, liner that was not attached to the cap, raw uneven fiberglass and only a smattering of gelcoat. What a disappointment.

At that point the salesman climbed aboard and asked how I liked the boat. I blatently told him it was really put together poorly and proceeded to show him the poor quality craftmenshit. (oops) He also mentioned they really don't sell many of these at all. He too admitted a SC factory rep hasn't seen them in a year. My advice to him was ship the boat back. Oh yeah, it was listed on sale for 114k with a t-top, no coffin box or electronics and 225 opti's. What a disappointment.

[Mark]

You mean to tell us that Bass Pro Shops doesn't make a top-shelf product?!

[Captn C]

LOL @ Mark!

I would normally be surprised that a manufacturer would continue to that around the live well....BUT it is Tracker Marine who you are dealing with.

Bass Pro Shop was replaceing a 32' hull when I bought my boat. The live well had ripped right off the deck liner. They had a good glass man repair it but then deck gave way. There was some other hull issue but I could never get a straight answer as to what that was. The short of it was they replaced the hull and they've had the live well issue for a while.

I know of an SKA guy here in Texas that has had the same live well problem too.

[FELLOW-SHIP]

It seems to me that this is a issue with a lot of different type of companies regarding quality issues. Using SeaCraft as a example 20 to 30 years ago craftsman or skilled workers dominated this and other businesses even if some of the labor was hard and tedious those Skilled workers looked past the hard part to the quality and pride of what they were doing. Now a days we have replaced those type of Skilled Craftsman with the cheapest workers a company can get, “no experience necessary”, because they say the mechanical procedure we have in place can replace those skills and craftsmanship. If you look into the construction industry here is South Florida for a example they had a very hard time completing some airport expansion projects because the work force of the contractors had so many convicted felons in it that were not permitted to work in a airport environment after 911. Not that I have any problem giving people a second chance I’m talking about “Skilled Craftsman” that no longer are a part of the process. I am of the opinion that I Can Do the Job “probably just as good” as a pro not that I know better then them, or have more experience then them, but because I care about the completed job MORE then them.
I hope SeaCraft Wakes up to this FACT.
FellowShip

[Capt Chuck]

Agree Fellowship and well said!

I found building my house that there is NO Apprenticeship Program in any of the trades [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]
Gone are the "Masters" with the skills to teach and gone are the "Workers" with willingness to learn. Being on the job for six months now qualiflys them as an expert because they just don't know any better.

Outsourcing to foreign countries just to save a buck! What a shame for the American labor force

Ok I'll get off now

[Captn C]

I wish I could openly talk about the the boat that is the poster child for the Mako recall, but I promissed her I would not. I will say they still have not grasp the concept of customer satisfaction.

The recall laws on boats are just too weak to really help the consumer.